Taking a selfie – what most BYU Hawaii students consider an innocent endeavor – is under scrutiny across the United States as selfie-takers who post pictures of their voter ballots are finding out such an act is illegal in 44 states.
On Aug. 15, a judge in New Hampshire, reported engaget.com, repealed the ban on what people are calling "ballot selfies" after one voter was investigated for the Facebook post containing a photo of his dead dog's name as a write-in replacing Republican candidates for Senate.
According to New York Times, the former law regarding photos posted on social media came into effect in New Hampshire in 2014, along with a $1,000 fine if violated. Officials, legislators, and people who supported this law and many others like it say that the pictures taken in voting booths could be the catalyst that revamps the vote-buying and voter intimidation that has been so readily combated.
"You shouldn't be able to," said sophomore and Arizona native Tatum Camp who is undeclared. "If people wanted to have proof, they shouldn't be able to see that. It should be as anonymous as possible."
For many years, the U.S. has been practicing what is known as the “Australian ballot,” in which the names of all candidates most be present on the ballot, and voting must take place at a polling place and marked in secret, according to The Encyclopedia Britannica. There are of course, exceptions to this as vote-by-mail is legal in some states.
The question that arises with selfie ballots is whether or not it is a right granted by freedom of speech, or violating the laws on voter secrecy. People who are on Camp's side of the argument fear photos could be demanded for and used as proof in cases of vote-buying and intimidation.
On the other hand, those in favor of legalizing photos of ballots or in the booth believe that it is a right and a form of speech, and to suppress it is unconstitutional.
“I don’t see anything bad with taking a picture and posting a picture of your vote, because we have the right to do so. ... It’s not hurting anyone,” said Meshaina Guillonta a freshman from Wisconsin who is studying political science. “Maybe someone might see it as inappropriate, but there’s a lot of inappropriate things out there that aren’t illegal.”
Vote-buying and voter intimidation refer to the possibility of one person paying off a voter to mark a specific candidate’s name on the ballot, which is what those not in favor of ballot selfies believe will begin to happen more frequently.
“I don’t see it as that much of a problem,” said Guillonta. “But then again, people find loopholes to everything.”
Another factor that plays into this debate is the idea of whether or not the pictures posted can be classified as legal displays of political stance, or intimidating others to conform to a particular vote.
“I can see it being a possibility. I think that’s definitely a problem in America: people are just trying to get votes to stay in office,” said Guillonta. “But they have their right to put their political view on social media, I mean, people put everything on social media.”